Apples in smoothies? Unusual, yes. But I thought it was worth a try. I threw a roughly chopped Granny Smith into this smoothie for a little extra tart flavor, and it totally worked – usually I have to add a bit of lime juice to make mellow smoothies pop. I think the apple added a nice thickness, too – this smoothie is 100 percent fruit. There’s not even ice in it.

Last week I didn’t eat enough fruit. Normally on the weekends, we buy a bunch of bananas and five or six apples, peaches, or similar that happen to be in season. For whatever reason, last week we forgot. I know it sounds kind of weird, but I could totally feel the difference. I just felt kind of heavy – I did not replace the fruit with vegetables, which would have been a fine substitute – I think I replaced it with bread/carbs. Whoops.

This week I’m trying to make up for it by taking two pieces of fruit with my lunch every day. On Sunday, I paired this smoothie with our caprese salad. It was a good first step on the way back to a balanced diet. For lunch today, I had a PBJ, a banana, and apple and a granola bar (hello, kindergarten!).

And then for dinner I made spicy mac and cheese with hot Italian sausage and Hatch chiles. Whoops again. But hey – balance, right?

Here’s what you need for about 20 oz. of smoothie:

1 mango

1 Granny Smith apple

2 cups of orange juice

1 cup strawberries

My strawberries were frozen, and I think that helped this smoothie not need any extra help in the ice department as well. As usual, cut all fruit into 1-inch cubes or smaller. Pour the orange juice over it and pulse until smooth. Go to a slightly finer texture than you might normally – the apple peel is a little tougher than most fruit peels that you might leave in a smoothie.